Retro Re-release Roundup, week of August 2, 2018

Part of me feels I'm being derelict in my duty by not providing any screenshots of Forsaken Remastered but ultimately, I think I'd be doing you all a disservice by not posting that one picture of the lady's face, over and over again, with no context whatsoever, for the authentic Forsaken experience. God speed, Acclaim.

ARCADE ARCHIVES NEO GEO

What's this? A sequel to SNK's pre-Neo Geo horizontal shooting game, developed by Pulstar/Blazing Star devs Yumekobo and released in arcades in 1999; this entry sees near-future rescue helicopters facing off against CG-rendered dinosaurs who've suddenly warped into an inland city from a mysterious island unstuck in time and space. (Hamster said this'd hit Switch this week but it seems to be missing from the North American update, which would make this the first Arcade Archives-free week in, what, a millennium?)

Why should I care?Prehistoric Isle 2 hasn't been re-released until now and, while a little plain, it's also a much easier game than Yumekobo's previous efforts, so if you're sick of being slaughted by Pulstar, you might find a little relief here.

Useless fact: The dino horde's place of origin, the mysterious Greenhell Isle, also serves as the home of Samurai Shodown characters Tam Tam and Cham Cham.

JOHNNY TURBO'S ARCADE

What's this? A fixed-screen, third-person shooting game, developed and published in arcades by Data East in 1985; unlike later games of this type that allowed the player to aim by moving a crosshair around the screen, Shoot Out uses strict directional inputs for five-way aiming.

Why should I care?Shoot Out kicked down the door for games like Dynamite Duke, Cabal and Wild Guns, so for that and perhaps that alone, it deserves a little respect.

Useless fact: Cabal's similarities to Shoot Out are no coincidence — both Cabal and the later Blood Bros were developed by TAD Corporation, a company formed by mid-'80s Data East employees.

OTHER

What's this? Acclaim's late-'90s Descent knocko—uh, competitor, reconstructed by Night Dive Studios with levels and enemies from both the PC/PS1 and N64 versions of the game and enhanced with support for ultra-high resolutions and modern post-processing effects like ambient occlusion and motion blur, as well as 16-player online play across all multiplayer modes.

Why should I care?Derivative as it may be, Forsaken offers a genuine (and genuinely tough) six-degrees-of-freedom experience and, until very recently, stood alone as perhaps the only not-Descent game that came within spitting distance of the real thing.

Useless fact: Have you ever wondered how that random scantily-clad lady featured on all the promotional art factored into Forsaken's plot? Here's the answer: she doesn't, she's just a model hired by Acclaim to cement the game in the minds of anyone who happened to glimpse one of the game's many ads, and there's no denying it worked.

What's this? A crowdfunded remaster of Thalamus' critically-acclaimed Commodore 64 free-scrolling puzzle-shooter, now featuring more levels and level types, enhanced graphics, new in-game music by Matt Gray, a randomized mode, built-in trainers and support for both European languages and 60FPS hardware — or, if you'd prefer, you can play it exactly as it existed back in 1987.

Why should I care? How often do you get the chance to play a hardware-authentic revision of a 30-year old game produced by the original creators?

Helpful tip: While the game files distributed in this emulated package won't work with common C64 flash cartridges, you'll be able to buy an official cartridge version later in the year.

What's this? THQ's historical-fantasy loot treadmill, originally released for PC in 2006 and repackaged here with all the upgrades from last year's console-focused anniversary update: namely, the original game and the Immortal Throne expansion pack with slightly sharper visuals and redone UI/controls (and, quite possibly, all the same bugs).

Why should I care? You don't believe the rumours about Diablo 3 coming to Switch.

Helpful tip: Did you know Monster Hunter Generations Ultimate also contains a zillion pieces of loot, and it's out in just a few weeks? Just sayin'.

MUSIC & SOUNDTRACKS

UK vinyl artisans Data Discs' inaugural collaboration with Capcom is a doozy: a four-record boxset featuring remastered music from Clover Studio's gargantuan sumi-e opus, Okami, complete with a 40-page artbook featuring unseen art from the vaults of Capcom Japan, a double-sided lithograph and digital versions of the soundtrack in lossy and lossless formats. In addition to the limited-edition clear white/pink splatter variant pictured above, standard black or clear white versions are also available; the box sets will begin shipping in October.

DISCOUNTS & DEALS

The world's largest fighting game tournament is upon us once again and to celebrate, Arcade Shock is discounting almost all of their stock for the next few days: full sticks, parts, hoodies and bags, controller converters, pretty much everything but Brooks PCB conversion kits.

Did ya read what I wrote for the last entry? Good, because it goes for Focusattack.com as well. They're also holding a sweepstakes for a white PS4 bundle that includes an external hard drive, a white Hori RAP stick and a limited edition of EVO's favourite fighting game, Windjammers, so you might as well get in on that as well, it don't cost nothin'.

Newegg's current promo sale covers a variety of new games and peripherals but the most relevant deals cover MadCatz' Street Fighter V TES+ and TE2+ for PS4/3, currently available with 25% and 40% discounts respectively, both of which stack with the current promo code for big savings, as well as good prices on sticks from Qanba and Hori. (While you're there, you may want to pick up the classic Street Fighter 30th Anniversary Collection or the very modern Dragon Ball FighterZ)